A Long Term Approach to Managing a Growing Legal Team
Client: Bartlett LLP
Scope: Long term headshot strategy and execution
Client Context
Bartlett LLP is an established law firm with attorneys and staff based both locally and out of state. As the firm continued to grow, leadership identified the Our Team page as a critical representation of credibility, professionalism, and stability.
Over time, the firm anticipated ongoing hiring and expansion beyond a single location. Maintaining a consistent visual presence across attorney headshots became an important consideration, particularly as new team members would be added at different times and in different places.
This case study outlines how Bartlett LLP approached headshot consistency as a long term strategy, ensuring that newly hired attorneys would align seamlessly with existing team members year after year.
The Strategic Challenge
As Bartlett LLP planned for continued growth, maintaining visual consistency became a strategic concern rather than a cosmetic one. Leadership needed assurance that headshots would remain cohesive year after year, regardless of location or timing.
Key challenges included maintaining consistent backgrounds and lighting, integrating out of state attorneys, and ensuring newly hired attorneys photographed months or years later would seamlessly match existing images.
The firm did not want to revisit these decisions with every new hire. They wanted confidence that their professional image would remain consistent year after year.
This required a system, not a one time solution.
Project Goals
- Establish a consistent background, lighting style, and framing that could be maintained year after year
- Ensure newly hired attorneys would match existing headshots regardless of when or where photographed
- Create a repeatable system to support ongoing hiring without visual drift
- Integrate out of state attorneys while preserving the firm’s established look
- Eliminate uncertainty for firm leadership as the firm continued to grow
The Solution: A Long Term Headshot Strategy
Rather than treating headshots as a one time project, Bartlett LLP implemented a long term approach designed to scale with the firm.
Over a four year partnership:
- The firm grew from approximately 30 team members to 42 attorneys and staff
- A total of 53 headshots were created to support new hires and updates
- Attorneys were photographed on site using a mobile headshot studio parked outside the office, at scheduled headshot events, and occasionally at private locations when needed
For attorneys located out of state, photography was coordinated to maintain consistency. Local photographers were sourced as needed, and all images were centrally reviewed, edited, and matched to the firm’s established look. This ensured every attorney appeared as part of one cohesive firm.
Execution Over Time
Consistency was maintained through a controlled, repeatable process.
Lighting, background, framing, and crop were standardized and preserved year after year. Newly hired attorneys were photographed with the explicit goal of matching existing headshots, not introducing a new look.
Sessions were designed to last approximately 15 minutes, minimizing disruption to the workday while maintaining quality and cohesion.
From an operational standpoint, this reliability mattered.
“Having a standardized headshot process removes friction. As we onboard attorneys throughout the year, it ensures consistency across the firm without requiring additional coordination or decision making each time.”
Jamie Fox, Office Manager, Bartlett LLP
Outcome
Today, Bartlett LLP benefits from a cohesive, professional Our Team page that has remained visually consistent despite continued growth.
- Newly hired attorneys blend seamlessly with long standing team members
- Consistency is maintained across in office and out of state attorneys
- Firm leadership no longer needs to rethink headshot strategy with each hire
- A reliable system supports growth without visual compromise
Growth does not have to disrupt consistency. With the right plan in place, a firm’s professional image can evolve seamlessly alongside its success.
Looking to maintain consistency as your firm grows?
If you’re planning for new hires or expansion, a long term approach to headshots can help ensure your team’s professional presence stays cohesive year after year.